International day for the eradication of poverty

Thursday the 17th of October is International Day
for the Eradication of poverty and the New Zealand Nurses
Organisation (NZNO) is calling for action locally,
nationally and internationally to eradicate poverty. 25
percent of New Zealand children currently live in
poverty.

Christchurch nurse and chair of the NZNO Nurses
for Children and Young People of Aotearoa section (NCYPA)
Becky Conway explains why poverty is a health issue,
“Nurses and other health care workers see every day the
effects of poverty on children and young people. We see how
poverty affects, not only their health, but their
self-esteem and future potential and prospects.”

“The effects of poverty can be visible through skin
conditions, scabies and asthma. Poverty is also internal and
invisible – the mental strain caused by living in
poverty.”

“Here’s one distressingly common
example. A teenager with advanced school sores (impetigo)
comes into the clinic. He should have come months ago but
his family couldn’t afford it. He lives in cramped, cold
accommodation. He is ashamed of how he looks, covered in
sores and open wounds, and he has stopped going to school.
He doesn’t make eye contact with the nurse. The
consultation feels like an indignity to the young man and
his family, and both the nurse and the family know that even
the cost of the prescription may be too much.”

“We see cases like this, and worse, every day. Nurses
want to make a difference and to improve the health and
well-being of their patients and we would love to know that
we are making that difference for the long term, not just
until next time the same disease afflicts the same
impoverished child or young person,” Becky Conway
says.

“Nurses know what will eradicate poverty.
What New Zealand needs is a holistic approach to stopping
poverty. The main way for families to move out of poverty is
to increase their income, but health, housing, education and
social welfare must provide wrap around policy and services
too.”

“Solutions to child poverty require a
multi-pronged approach, good child-focused government policy
which is not punitive, and the solutions must address
communities.”

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